Receive the latest politics updates in your inbox

Dylann Roof, the 21-year-old accused of shooting up a Charleston Church, credits Earl Holt (Not Pictured) for influencing his views on black people.

The 21-year-old accused of gunning down nine people inside a Charleston church has credited a man who donated thousands of dollars to Republican campaigns — including those of two Texans — for influencing his views on black people, The Guardian reported last night.

East-Texas man Earl Holt, 62, is president of the Missouri-based Council of Conservative Citizens. According to The New York Times, the Southern Poverty Law Center — a leading authority on hate crimes — confirmed that CofCC is a white supremacist group that opposes "race mixing" and condemns black people as an inferior race.

The self-proclaimed "Texas Slumlord" has donated $65,000 to Republican campaign funds while making offensive remarks about black people, The Guardian reported.

In a campaign finance report from The Texas Tribune, Holt is shown providing $1,000 to the Texans for Greg Abbott fund. Holt has also financially backed three GOP presidential candidates, including Rick Santorum, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).

After speaking with The Guardian and The New York Times, Cruz said he would return the $8,500 his campaign has received through Holt.

"We just learned this evening that Mr. Holt had contributed to the campaign," a spokesman for the Cruz campaign said in an email to The New York Times June 21. "We will be immediately refunding all those donations."

Greg Abbott will also return his $1,000 donation by donating it to the Salvation Army in Austin, according to The Dallas Morning News.